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Code Enforcement ordered the owner to clean the place up, which he did. The entire problem stemmed from the new manager not doing his job.
There doesn't have to be damages, owners/landlords are required by law to keep their properties in habitable condition. It was technically uninhabitable after one month of the new manager doing nothing but drinking in his apartment.
... There doesn't have to be damages, owners/landlords are required by law to keep their properties in habitable condition. It was technically uninhabitable after one month of the new manager doing nothing but drinking in his apartment.
You did say earlier that, "My lawsuit includes a year at my rent difference, and my security deposit on my new place. It also includes the hour a day cleaning, and since my primary occupation isn't a cleaning person (only in my own place), my hourly rate for that for a year..."
Just curious but what does "a year at my rent difference" mean? Since you moved of your own volition, I don't think it's likely you would get compensated for the security deposit at your new place and since you weren't hired by anyone to do any cleaning it's not likely you'd be compensated for that.
The whole question of the eviction is dodgy, too. You say you were evicted for "whistle blowing" but, even though you may surmise that, the reason for your eviction was of course cited as something completely different and that'll be one of the things the attorneys will bring up to discredit you. You say you didn't go to any eviction hearing because you moved before it was scheduled, so was the eviction notice officially dropped or was there a hearing which you didn't attend?
[QUOTE=STT Resident;10511275]You did say earlier that, "My lawsuit includes a year at my rent difference, and my security deposit on my new place. It also includes the hour a day cleaning, and since my primary occupation isn't a cleaning person (only in my own place), my hourly rate for that for a year..."
I was renting a room for 400 per month. I now have a cottage for which I pay $765 per month, and my deposit was $500.
[I]Just curious but what does "a year at my rent difference" mean? Since you moved of your own volition, I don't think it's likely you would get compensated for the security deposit at your new place and since you weren't hired by anyone to do any cleaning it's not likely you'd be compensated for that. [/i]Would you like to live in a place where the men urinate and defacate on the bathroom floor, and is never cleaned up? What would you. There laws in California that you may not have where you are.
The whole question of the eviction is dodgy, too. You say you were evicted for "whistle blowing" but, even though you may surmise that, the reason for your eviction was of course cited as something completely different and that'll be one of the things the attorneys will bring up to discredit you. You say you didn't go to any eviction hearing because you moved before it was scheduled, so was the eviction notice officially dropped or was there a hearing which you didn't attend?
There was never an eviction hearing scheduled, they didn't want to go to court, and I had proof on paper that it was retalitory, i.e., my complaint to the city was dated January 25, the eviction notice was dated March 24, and was thrown in my face. Look at the dates, that's retalitory. Most of the other people that live there (and still do) are on fixed incomes, and were afraid to say anything because they didn't want to get evicted. But I have emails from a resident that still lives there, saying how bad it was.
Hope you get it all sorted out.
I'm not worried about having it sorted out. Monday I'm going to call the lawyer referral service and have a consultation with a real estate attorney that knows about these things. I'd like to see what another one says about viewing all the pictures. And if it doesn't work out, I wish bad Karma on them! I guarantee you that it will happen, the person that termimated me from my job had her job abolished, and was reassigned to a job where she can no longer make decisions.
I used to live in room in an SRO hotel. I lived there for six years while getting back on my feet, after leaving an abusive boyfriend. During the time that I lived there, I worked myself up from a minimum wage job back into the secretarial field, and started saving money to get my own place, and also buying items that I needed and put them into a storage unit. The hotel was locally owned, and kept clean, but was in an area that's being redeveloped, so I knew that it would be sold one day. So that did happen, it was sold to an investor, and he planned to build condos on the land.
The manager left, and the new manager let the building go downhill. He rented to anyone who showed up with the money, no matter who they were. He did not clean, and I mean NO CLEANING! This is a 14 room building, only three women living in it, and most of the men missed the toilet when they used the bathroom. It got so bad, that I would come home from work and clean the bathrooms and kitchen. Then the manager rented to someone who brought in bedbugs, and didn't do anything about it. I took some dead ones to the county vector control office, they in turn wrote a report, and I reported the owner to the city Code Enforcement Office. The manager was not happy. He still rented rooms, but did not disclose the bedbug problem.
The end result is that a new occupant was bitten so badly that he had to go to the hospital. Both he and I sued the owner for substandard living conditions. My attorney said that they've been fighting the lawsuit tooth and nail, and paid the other guy a pittance, just enough to cover his medical bills. They owner's attorney doesn't want to pay me, they claim that they're not liable, and my attorney said that there's no money in it for him, adn suggested that I sue in small claims court. He says with my evidence, I should win. I have over 200 pictures of the filth and bedbugs, plus emails from another tenant about the problems.
I have since moved out, and have a house, and don't have any problems at all.
Sorry this is so long, but I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions about should I or shouldn't I sue in small claims.
In California there's a law that says owners/landlords has an obligation to keep their properties in habitable condition. That means keep it clean, no vermin, trash, etc. Look it up. I have numerous photos.
I don't think I need to repeat myself. I also don't plan to sue in small claims, I'm making an appointment with a real estate attorney next week who has experience with landlord/tenant issues. I'll be curious to see what he/she says when she/she looks at a CD of about 200 photos.
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